Gastric Cancer
Copyright ©2006 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 21, 2006; 12(7): 1013-1017
Published online Feb 21, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i7.1013
Significance of Survivin and PTEN expression in full lymph node-examined gastric cancer
Hao Deng, Ren-Liang Wu, Hong-Yan Zhou, Xuan Huang, Ying Chen, Li-Jiang Liu
Hao Deng, Zhou Hong-Yan, Huang Xuan, Chen Ying, Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Medical and Life Science College, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China
Hao Deng, Ren-Liang Wu, Department of Pathology, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China
Li-Jiang Liu, Research Institute of Tumor, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China
Supported by The Key Science and Technolog Fund of Wuhan, No.30224801; Chenguang Youth Fund of Wuhan, No.20045006071-7
Correspondence to: Ren-Liang Wu， Department of Pathology, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China. Renliangwu@hotmail.com
Telephone: +86-27-83691894 Fax: +86-27-84226503
Received: June 2, 2005
Revised: July 2, 2005
Accepted: September 16, 2005
Published online: February 21, 2006
Abstract

AIM: To study the relationship between Survivin and PTEN expression and lymph node metastasis, depth of invasion and prognosis of gastric cancer patients in China.

METHODS: Specimens of gastric cancer tissue were collected from the Affiliated Hospital of Jianghan University. All the 140 patients had complete examination data. All lymph nodes were found by the fat-clearing method. The interrupted serial 4-micron sections, routine hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemical methods were used to detect the lymph node metastases. Gastric cancer tissue microarray was performed to test the expression of Survivin and PTEN (17A) in gastric cancer by immunohistochemical method. All data were processed using χ2 test, Fisher’s exact test, Kaplan-Meyer Log-rank method and Cox multivariate analysis (SPSS 12.0 software).

RESULTS: One hundred and eighteen specimens were used in our tissue microarray (utilization rate was 82.4%). A total of 7580 lymph nodes were found. Metastases were found in 90 specimens and 1618 lymph nodes were detected. The positive rate of Survivin and PTEN expression was 52.5% (62/118) and 76.2% (90/118), respectively. A highly positive correlation was found between Survivin and PTEN expression (χ2 = 4.17, P = 0.04). Survivin expression was positively correlated with UICC N stage (χ2=8.69, P=0.03) and histological classification (χ2=4.41, P=0.04) by χ2 tests. PTEN expression was positively correlated with depth of invasion (P=0.02) and histological classification (χ2=5.47, P=0.02). But Survivin and PTEN expressions were not related with prognosis of gastric cancer patients. A significant correlation between lymph node metastasis and prognosis was demonstrated by Cox multivariate analysis (χ2=4.85, P=0.028).

CONCLUSION: Survivin is positively correlated with PTEN expression in gastric cancer and is a molecular marker of lymph node metastasis while PTEN expression is a molecular marker of advanced gastric cancer. UICC N stage is the most important prognostic factor of gastric cancer in China.

Keywords: Gastric cancer; Survivin; PTEN; Tissue microarray